Las Vegas' Smith Center for the Performing Arts is an extraordinary place. It's diverse programs encompass just about all of the performing arts. The building, designed by David M. Schwartz is a Neo Art Deco design and features a 47-bell carillon housed in a 17-story carillon tower. The design, Schwartz said at the opening, was chosen to echo the design elements of Hoover Dam, located 30 miles away. It is the first performing arts center in the United States to be Gold LEED certified. After three years of planning and construction, it opened on March 10, 2012.

Since the Smith Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors almost three years ago in March 2012, many Las Vegans have felt less culturally adrift. You see, the arrival of the Smith Center meant that, even off The Strip and outside hotel showrooms, there was world-class entertainment to be seen in the city. This includes Broadway musicals, intimate cabaret fare, a beautiful home for performances by Las Vegas' terrific philharmonic and the Nevada Ballet Theatre. And, all of this takes place in a breathtakingly beautiful venue - art deco on the level of the Chrysler Building and the Radio City Music Hall. So many who live in Las Vegas are so grateful to have the Smith Center.

Saturday, November 1, should go down in the history of Las Vegas entertainment as the night Martin Kaye debuted his own show in the city. And it would be smart of some producer to sign him and find him his own regular showroom.

Promotional material tells us that at the The Naked Magicians 'Magic + Strip Poker = The Naked Magicians.' But, unlike the show with the same title that has played elsewhere in the world, the cast does wear clothing most of the time (thus avoiding, one imagines, some awkward moments).

As I've noted here before - and voters in the BroadwayWorld.com poll of Las Vegas showgoers have twice decreed when his was twice voted Best Performance By A Lead Actor In A Musical for Vegas! The Show - Eric Jordan Young is a super-talented man.

As a native New Yorker who was fortunate enough to go to Broadway shows since the age of five, I can now wholeheartedly and unreservedly say that Las Vegas is, indeed, the 'Entertainment Capital of the World.' And the reason for that is, in three simple words, 'The Smith Center. '

Here is clearly a man who loves theater and for audience members like me, the set list - heavy on show tunes and made even more interesting with the inclusion of, for example, 'Downtown,' - was a terrific one. It was a wonderful evening.

Those who aren't among the 15,082,028 people (6,398,889 in the United States) in the world's 29,253 congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - the Mormon Church - probably don't know much about that religion. I am one of those people. In fact, the one thing I absolutely believe in is musical theater. I don't claim it as a religion, but I do claim it can cure a host of ills and know that its devotees are fervid in their faith in the curative power of a good musical. I am supremely grateful that I saw my first Broadway show at the age of 5 and that my faith in that art form has never wavered in the least. Now, The Book of Mormon has reinforced that faith.

Mamma Mia! has become a staple of the musical theater stage. It ran at Mandalay Bay from February 2003 to January 2009, racking up more than 2,100 performances making it the longest-running West End show in Las Vegas. It is now the ninth longest-running show on Broadway. It has played around the world to millions of people.

Comedienne Whitney Cummings (left) visited Las Vegas on Thursday. She was at a press conference at the Venetian Resort and Casino to announce Lipshtick - The Perfect Shade of Standup, a new resident series of performances by female comediennes.

Teller first became known for magic, working with Penn (Jillette) in the act they formed in 1981. Today, following worldwide success, the duo is in residence at the Rio in Las Vegas. In between shows, Teller found time to direct (and co-produce with Penn) the 2013 documentary Tim's Vermeer. Now, he and co-director Aaron Posner have staged Shakespeare's play The Tempest and it is running at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts through April 27.

In the last couple of years, many of us who live in Las Vegas have noticed that - along with Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and The Strip - visitors have expressed a desire to visit Gold & Silver Pawn, the shop made famous on History Channel's highly rated (1.3 million viewers each week) Pawn Stars. The family that owns the shop - Rick Harrison and his father Richard (the 'old man'), his son Corey ('Big Hoss'), along with Corey's childhood friend Austin ('Chumlee') Russell - have become familiar to people across the country and, now, they even have their own stage show in Las Vegas. Pawn Shop Live! opened at the Golden Nugget.

'Grand Illusionist' David Copperfield has become a Las Vegas staple, appearing in his home at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre more than 40 weeks each year. Unlike venues in so many other cities, this one is relatively intimate, seating 740 or so people. The audience is thisclose to the stage so it is important that the performer - especially when the performer is a magician or illusionist - appear transparent.